Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1887-04-15
AbOUT DIAMONDS.


About DIAMONDS.
Legendary and Rhetorical Information
Concerning Their Virtues and Value.
Among all the ancients the diamond
was held AS an amulet possessing won
derful power and immense intrinsic
! value.
There are three forms in which the
diamond is cut, the brilliant, the rose
and the table. The shape Of the stones
in many cases is regulated by it's form
i'll the rough. The brilliant is the most
valuable, the rose second, and the ta-
bic last.
The only American diamond of con-
siderable size, and we'll vouched for,
was found by man named Benjamin
! Moore, a laborer, in the employ of Mr..
James Fisher, Jr.. at Manchester, near
Richmond, Va, in the month of April,
1856. Its weight was 27.7 carats.
The old writer's mention imitation OF
diamonds by subjecting the sapphire,
| amethyst, topaz or chrysolite to fire,
by which the color was extracted and
the brilliancy kept. It is common
error that the diamond will glisten in
the dark. No more light emanates
from it than from any other stone.
Master Thomas Vicols gives this
opinion of the virtues of the diamond.
He says: 1T will make men rich and
eloquent; it will preserve from thunder
and lightning; it will create dreams,
keep men chaste, hinder fascination,
stop witchcraft and make men invisi-
BILE.
The principal diamond mines are the
districts of the East Indies, extending
from Cape Comorin to Bengal, and the
Brazilian localities. They are found in
the Ural, Russia, and upon the western
coast of Africa. Diamonds have been
found in Georgia recently and in Wis
consin. so it is said. In the year 172.
diamonds were found in Brazil. at Te-
juco, on the Rio San Francisco.
In 1871 a diamond of 1873 carats was
found, on the Rio de Abaite, by three
criminals who had escaped from Rio
Janeiro. Knowing it to be diamond.
but not having any chance of disposing
OF it, they consulted priest, who ad-
vised them to throw themselves upon
the mercy of the Emperor and present
their jewel. They did so and were
pardoned, his Majesty pocketing the
diamond
1t is only within two hundred years
that any system in the valuation of
diamonds has been arrived at. In En-
rope, until within the past hundred
years, there was no scale of value. The
old manner of valuation, thus: If
diamond of single carat was worth
$40, one of 2 carats WAS worth $160,
one of 3 carats $3.50, is exploded; as
diamonds become more plenty the
quality determines the value, that
ranges from $50 to $500 per carat.
Much depends upon the taste and
skill of the lapidary in producing finely
cut, clear stones. Having decided
upon the form he will cut the stone,
he next makes a model in lead, which
model rests continually before him MS a
guide to his labors. Cutting is work
of great labor and time. OF the rela-
tive value of the cut and uncut dia-
mond there can be no positive Ger
tainty, though it is understood that the
finished stone is worth three times the
rough stone.
The diamond is cold to the touch and
can not be looked through, as can all
limitations. Before cut its coat is
rough and looks like greenish glass.
Until the year 1876 the diamond was
worn uncut Many stones, supposed
to be the most beautiful in the world,
are in that state. Holland for long
period held a monopoly of diamond
cutting. England gradually came in,
and finally the United States have
turned out some very nice work, New
York and Chicago are the headquarters
for diamond-cutting. #
The composition of the paste or Paris
brilliant is fine, pure white glaep sand
or slick, the best Of which is found in
Rhode Island and exported to Paris for
that use; potash, borax, red-lead md
arsenic; these substances are put into q
crucible, which is kept at great heat
for twenty four hours or longer. The
mixture which results is called sptrass;;''
it i cAst into mods, cut and polished
the. same as glass, and thus receives al.
the facets and limitations 0f the real.
stone. These brill ants have the rich
ness and refraction 81 the true diamond,
but not its hals iness; = few mon1lllx''
5wear takes away their hrilliancY, the.
mir oorrodes their surface. An imitar
lton can BE readily detected, either b.
the crucible 81 the file a file will
make no impression upon the genuine
diamond. neither will the test Of fire.,
bpt that must "a used with cal
go llssus.